Israeli fire kills two people in Gaza, as US pressures both sides to advance Gaza deal

CAIRO, Jan 25 (Reuters) – Israeli fire killed two Palestinians in the Tuffah neighbourhood in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday, and an Israeli drone wounded four others in a separate incident in Gaza City, local health authorities said.

Medical workers said an Israeli drone exploded on the rooftop of a multi-floor building in Gaza City, wounding four civilians in the street nearby.

There was no comment by the Israeli military on either incident.

Gaza has been reduced to rubble in the war that was triggered by an attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.

The Gaza health ministry says more than 71,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed by Israeli fire since then. It says that at least 480 people were killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire agreement came into effect last October.

Israel said four soldiers have been killed by militants in Gaza since the ceasefire began. Both sides have traded blame over the violation of the truce.

Earlier this month, Washington announced that the plan had now moved into the second phase, under which Israel is expected to withdraw troops further from Gaza, and Hamas is due to yield control of the territory’s administration.

U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met in Israel on Saturday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, mainly to discuss Gaza, two people briefed on the matter said, as local authorities reported further violence in the enclave.

Meanwhile, in Khan Younis, over a hundred people attended the funeral of a person who was killed by Israeli drone fire on Saturday, after holding special prayers in front of his white-shrouded body at the morgue in Nasser Hospital.

“They are liars, there is no ceasefire,” said Fares Erheimat, a relative of the dead man, during the funeral.

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo. Additional reporting by Haseeb Alwazeer and Dawoud Abu Alkas in Gaza; Editing by Susan Fenton)